1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to lunch pails and coolers, and more particularly to a removable food container attachment for lunch pails and coolers having a compartment for carrying plate lunches and other articles.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
In the work world of today, we have come a long way from carrying our lunch in a brown paper bag. Lunch pails and small coolers are widely popular means of carrying lunches. One of the major problems with current lunch pails and small coolers is that most of them have only a single carrying compartment with perhaps one small tray insert. Many people would prefer to carry a plate lunch, be it homemade or store bought, due to the availability of microwave ovens in work places. Most lunch pails and small coolers of today are not designed to carry a plate lunch, but rather sandwiches, fruit, beverages, and maybe a few small containers.
Therefore, I have designed a removable food container attachment for lunch pails and small coolers which provides a detachable compartment which can be attached to lunch pails and small coolers and used to carry plate lunches while still maintaining the lunch pail or cooler compartment for snacks, fruit, drinks, and other desired articles.
There are several patents which disclose lunch pails and connectable containers. Ruiz, U.S. Pat. No. 3,372,690 discloses an insulated lunch box having an insulated base portion with an upper tray-supporting surface with side panels hingedly connected at their bottom ends to the base portion to define a single compartment. Each of the side panels pivot to a vertical position and are provided with a groove on their inner surface which is positioned parallel to the upper tray-supporting surface of the base portion. A food tray having a peripheral horizontal flange is removably received on the tray-supporting surface of the base portion with its horizontal flange resting on the vertical flange of the base portion. The food tray is covered by a cover having outer edges which are folded over the horizontal flange of the food tray. The outer periphery of horizontal flange of the food tray and cover is received in the grooves of the side portions when they are vertically disposed.
Clubb, U.S. Pat. No. 4,078,701 discloses a multi-vessel container unit wherein either vessel is used to carry ice and/or liquids. The Clubb device has separate vessels removably mounted one on top of the other and held together by hinged clamps. The upper vessel is uninsulated and has a vertical pouring spout of sufficient diameter to receive and pass ice cubes therethrough and the lower vessel is insulated and has an open top end to receive .ice cubes and a pouring spout on the side of sufficient diameter to prevent the passage of ice cubes therethrough. The bottom of the upper vessel is received in the open top end of the lower vessel. An insulating cover may be placed in the lower vessel a short distance below the open top end to prevent heat exchange between the two vessels.
The present invention is distinguished over the prior art in general, and these patents in particular by a removable food container attachment for lunch pails and small coolers which includes a sling member formed of flexible material having a bottom wall and opposed end portions and side portions extending upwardly therefrom to define a generally rectangular compartment which receives one or more bowl-shaped food containers each having an air tight lid. In a preferred embodiment, the bottom and sides of the compartment are of double wall construction and filled with thermally insulating material. A flexible insulating cover removably received on the top of the covered food container encloses the top end of the sling compartment. The sling compartment with the insulating cover installed is placed on the bottom of a conventional lunch pail or small cooler. A flexible strap connected to one side portion extends over the top of the pail or cooler and a releasable fastener connected with the strap and with the other side portion releasably secures the sling onto the pail or cooler and the assembly is conveniently carried as a single unit. One or more small pockets may be provided on the exterior of the sling for holding eating utensils and other items. Conventional covered food containers, microwaveable dishes, or one or more conventional frozen dinner packages may be carried in the sling compartment.degree. Wholesome plate lunches prepared in advance may be placed in containers, stored in a refrigerator or freezer, transported in the attachment, and when desired, microwaved for consumption.